JimCarrey Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The fear many of us had when it was announced Jim Carrey would play Ebenezer Scrooge and other parts in Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of A Christmas Carol was that Carrey's clowning would turn the story into a goofy farce. This fear turns out to have been unfounded. If anything, the opposite is true: The film has no personality at all, not Carrey's or anyone else's.

Charles Dickens' holiday classic has already been adapted for movies and TV dozens of times, but Zemeckis noticed something peculiar: Somehow, none of the previous incarnations had managed to be in 3-D! He sought to rectify this oversight with that newfangled motion-capture technology he's been so excited about the last several years, where actors' movements are translated into animation. The Polar Express and Beowulf demonstrated that for as neat-o as the technology is for action scenes, characters' faces -- especially their eyes -- look dead and soulless. Some improvement has been made in that respect, but most of the people in A Christmas Carol still look like creepy robots.

Someone spent a lot of time and energy building a Flash-heavy website for Jim Carrey that is overwhelming enough to confuse even the most web-savvy user. Besides the usual bio, filmography, TV appearances, and news items, there are tiny arrows to click on on that swoop you from one movie-inspired dimension to another. There's creepy music I couldn't turn off using Safari or Firefox until I randomly clicked on a little doodad on the homepage (note to developers: that's always a crowd-pleaser!). The problem is, the whole site is nearly impossible to navigate. Even the filmography page is practically useless for finding actual info on his past movies -- unless, of course, you would like to see the trailer for A Christmas Carol.

If you have split-second reflexes and click on the little dude who pops up and snaps a photo, you can see "informal" photos of Jim Carrey in real life -- covered in mud or snuggled up with his sweetie, Jenny McCarthy, or posing with a crab in his mouth. Click on the bird with a Jim Carrey head, and you're taken to his Twitter account. It's all very click-y, like a movie website. Which as we all know are, well, kind of annoying.

Because I am a nerd, I looked up the source code of the site, and the meta-description reads, "Explore the eccentric, psychedelic corners of Jim Carrey's mind on his official site. Discover archived appearances and movie trailers, behind the scenes clips, family photos and even notes from Jim himself!" Well, it is very psychedelic, I'll give it that.

If you're looking for a great, informative site for someone famous, I suggest you turn to the far simpler and yet more pleasing sites for Edgar Wright, which features funny photos, unseen video and on-set video diaries, and, smartest of all, links to buy his movies.

We've all lamented the way that Christmas decorations, candies, and wrapping paper start appearing on store shelves between fake pumpkins and cheesecloth ghosts. In some stores, the Christmas stuff appears as early as July or August. But when it comes to our local multiplex, we're generally safe from holly and plum pudding until it's actually cold outside. Not this year.

Being entertainment fiends, I'm sure that the last week found most of you were tuning into AMC, IFC, and other assorted channels to check out their horror selections. You were also undoubtedly watching your favorite television shows, football teams, and following the World Series. I'll bet that you saw the tv spots for A Christmas Carol around ten times a day. Possibly more than that given all the games. Did you feel a cold chill run down your spine?

I did, and it wasn't caused by a pocky Jim Carrey or the possibility of Robert Zemeckis' mo-cap dead eyes. It was the fact that my jack o'lantern was flickering on my kitchen counter, bell jars of bones were decorating the top of my television, and Shadow of the Vampire was beckoning from my DVR. It was Halloween weekend. Even after October ticked down to its last gasp and we fell back, it was still autumn. It's harvest time. It's heartwrenching drama time, the real start of the Oscar race. It's time for The Road, The Men Who Stare At Goats and the Coens. It is not Christmastime. I don't care what the Three Spirits try to tell me, or whether Tiny Tim wants God to bless us, every one. I'm not going to listen until December 1. Perhaps I'll miss a great 3D thrill ride and the velvet voice of Colin Firth, but I'm not ready for snow and Dickensian morality just yet. Are you?

If you thought America was the only place where Christmas displays popped up in July, you can take some comfort that England is also suffering from holiday fatigue. But there's one corner of London that has proudly held out against decking the halls too soon: The West End. Until this year. The Independent reports that Disney has struck a deal with London's Mayor Boris Johnson to turn on Oxford and Regent's Christmas lights on November 3, nine days earlier than they're normally on, in order to coincide with London's world premiere of A Christmas Carol.

While some early Christmas lights aren't the end of the world, it's a rather sad state of affairs. Not only is it frightening to see a venerable city become a marketing tool, but the West End lights are famous, and always pick a unique decorating scheme from the rest of the city. For the first time, they'll not only follow the City of London's switch-on schedule, but they'll share the city's theme. Of course, that city wide theme is A Christmas Carol, and Disney has spent a million pounds in order to deck the halls of Oxford and Regent with Scrooge related decorations. From Leicester Square and beyond, Mayor Johnson promises lights and Dickensian events will provide "one of the biggest festive celebrations the capital has ever seen."

Disney's plans are causing quite a commotion in England, and many Londoners are dismayed to see the West End tradition fall prey to such overwhelming marketing. Dickens' scholars are even weighing in as to what the author himself would think, and the surprising consensus is that he would heartily approve of anything that inspired gift giving and commerce.

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Click image below to view full poster

Cinematical has received this exclusive final poster for Disney's A Christmas Carol, Robert Zemeckis' newest dive into the pioneering world of motion capture animation. The Polar Express and Beowulf director's spin on Charles Dickens' timeless tale of a bitter old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taken on a midnight journey of self-redemption by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, stars Jim Carrey as not only the cranky Scrooge, but all three apparitions as well.

As you might have guessed from the poster, Zemeckis' take promises to be the most wondrous adaptation of Dickens' original story to date. Substituting the dour introversion found in countless other cracks at the tale with a sense of adventure is a perfect fit for the man who created Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. If there is any doubt that Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol is going to be anything less than a must see exhibition this November 6th, just take a look at the roll call at the bottom of the poster: Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. That's every flavor the cutting edge tech has to offer.

And if the above poster doesn't sell you on the Disney sponsored trip to a magical, Victorian-era wonderland, I'm sure the below trailer will.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly's long-suffering project The Three Stooges has added and subtracted two more names to its cast, according to Boston.com, who caught up with Peter at a show at Fenway Park. Paul Giamatti, who can be seen on a limited number of arthouse screens in the wonderful new movie Cold Souls, will be taking on the role of Larry, the curly-haired comedian of the trio. (Oscar-winner Sean Penn ducked out of both The Three Stooges and Cartel earlier this summer.) Beleagured Wolf Man Benecio Del Toro is still on board to play slap-happy Moe, but Curly remains a mystery. According to Peter, who was trying to watch Paul McCartney while the reporter sussed out this info, the rumors that Jim Carrey will be playing the big-mouthed baldie are incorrect.

So who is willing to take the significant amount of Stooge abuse in the trio? Personally, I nominate Shia LaBeouf. Because someone needs a few noogies after Transformers 2.

If you're dying to participate in your own Stooge-y slapfight, you can download the iStooges app to your iPhone and n'yuck to your heart's delight. See a video demo after the jump.

Someone out there will undoubtedly scream "sacrilegious!" or at least "LAME!", but I've always wanted to see The Incredible Mr. Limpet remade. It's a favorite film of both my parents, and so my sister and I loved it too.

Remake talk has been floating around for years, with everyone from Robin Williams to Jim Carrey being attached to star (I always thought Lee Evans would have been a good pick), and the talents of Mike Judge behind the camera. Now The Hollywood Reporter says that Kevin Lima is the next to try and get it off the ground ... and considering his wonderful work on the live action / animated hybrid of Enchanted, he's a natural fit.

The original Limpet takes place during WWII, and centers on a fish-loving fellow (played by Don Knotts, King of '60s Children Cinema) that is belitted by his wife, and rejected by the armed forces. He falls off a pier and magically turns into an animated fish, and ends up a WWII hero because he can help battle U-Boats and submarines. He also meets a sexy girl named Ladyfish, who picks him up in a "Let's spawn!" scene that undoubtedly left many children asking awkward questions.

It's a cute film, and could really benefit from a beefier story and improved effects. The only downside is that they'll probably update the WW2 setting -- although if they got really clever and set it during the Cold War, I would be very impressed.

The question now is not where, but who. With the announcement that Universal and Illumination Entertainment have nabbed the rights to transform the Where's Waldo? book series into a live-action film suitable for the entire family, with global appeal, naturally we started thinking about who could play the character on the big screen.

We're thinking someone tall, lean, and a little nerdy. Whoever plays Waldo has to look good in a red-and-white shirt, a hat, glasses -- and must know how to wield a mean walking stick. Here are the top five names that come to mind, and why (listed alphabetically):

• Jim Carrey. Accustomed to playing literary characters, especially beloved children's tales, plus proven worldwide box office appeal.
• David Cross. Looks good in glasses; would bring an unpredictable, possibly psychotic and sinister edge to the character.
• Tony Hale. Yes, like Cross, another Arrested Development alumni; brings the "nutty" factor into the equation, plus it's hard to keep your eyes off him even when he's standing still.
• Hugh Laurie. Not too nerdy, true, but he might be the best of all, acting-wise; wields a nasty walking stick on House; amazing comic abilities just waiting to be tapped.
• Rainn Wilson. Versatile, manic energy, can intentionally disappear into the background on The Office -- and definitely has got the bespectacled thing down.

What do you think? Who could play Waldo?

A photo and the first footage (which you can see below) from Robert Zemeckis's Disney-produced motion capture version of A Christmas Carol has arrived online with the video coming in by way of Trailer Addict. Zemeckis was also at the helm of 2004's The Polar Express which used the same technology to attempt to breathe life into another Christmas story. I say attempted because the characters in that film never quite made it as cartoons or real people (at least for me), falling into a creepy sort of Twilight Zone between the two. This new film seems to pull it off more convincingly thanks to more cartoony characters and several years of advancement with the technology. That's Jim Carrey playing Scrooge and he'll also be portraying the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. The cast will also include Gary Oldman, Bob Hoskins, and Colin Firth.

It really says something about a story that can be adapted for film, stage and television as often as A Christmas Carol. One might even say it's a Dickens of a tale, but that's a joke too lame even for me. A quick search for the title on IMDB brings up 26 film and TV productions, which of course doesn't include the ones that took liberty with the title like Bill Murray's Scrooged.

Don't worry -- this post isn't about heaping Leave it to Beaver on the ever-growing remake pile. (Especially because one was made in 1997! -- SW) In fact, this new project is one to keep an eye on.

The Beaver, written by Kyle Killen, topped the Black List in 2008, with Steve Carell in line to star. Now the Risky Biz Blog reports that Carell is out, and Jim Carrey might be working his way in. What could possibly be good enough to top the List and attract both Steve and Jim? How about the story of a down-on-his-luck toy manufacturer who becomes way too close to a beaver hand puppet he finds, "treating it as something close to a human creature with human feelings"? Still not enough? How about the fact that it's been compared to both Being John Malkovich and Lars and the Real Girl? Methinks Jim might be a wee bit perfect for the part.

One would imagine that a project like this would get a kickass director right away, but Anonymous Content is still shopping around since Jay Roach said no. And they've even got one heck of a surprise in the mix: Jodie. Foster. I don't know how the woman behind Little Man Tate and Home for the Holidays got to wanting this gig, but word has it she's one of the contenders. Everything might be up in the air right now, but you can be sure that we'll let you know who signs on the dotted line whenever the news hits.